This invention relates to ice coolers and more particularly to picnic and travel coolers with dry compartments into which food is placed separately from ice outside of the dry compartments to prevent water from the ice in the coolers from contacting and contaminating the food while the ice and cold water from the ice keep the food cool.
Coolers with ice kept separately from food are well-known, but not with a cooling compartment separate from one or more ice compartments in a manner taught by this invention.
Examples of most-closely related known but different devices are described in the following patent documents:
Objects of patentable novelty and utility taught by this invention are to provide a dry-compartment cooler which:
keeps food separated from ice and water in iced coolers;
is convenient and easy to fill with ice and/items of food while keeping the ice separate from food items and any other items in the cooler;
allows easy and convenient access to food, packages and other items being keep cool with the ice in the cooler;
conveys coldness from ice to food and other items in the cooler efficiently; and
is easy to recharge with fresh ice.
This invention accomplishes these and other objectives with a dry-compartment cooler having a dry compartment with compartment walls that are connected water-tightly to a compartment floor. The compartment walls are articulated to extend upwardly from proximate a riser framework on a cooler floor to proximate a bottom side of a cooler lid of a predetermined cooler. One or more ice compartments separates ice and water from inside surfaces of the compartment walls and from space inside of the dry compartment. The ice compartments are in fluid communication intermediate proximate the bottom side of the cooler lid and a framework space where the riser framework is positioned under the cooler floor. The framework space is in fluid communication with an optional outlet valve in a cooler bottom for draining water melted from ice in the cooler. The compartment walls can have coldness absorbers and moisture deterrents. The ice compartments can have ice-compartment walls with heat-conveyance members for transmitting coldness from the ice to the inside surfaces of the compartment walls and to the space inside of the dry compartment.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention.